Right now, my back is a bit stiff, my legs are aching, my right arm is in slight pain and the soles of my feet are on the verge of having cramps. I guess it’s because of the two consecutive days I spent pushing myself while playing sports this weekend. And yes, I’m not really much of a sports person so two days in a row of playing sports would easily take its toll on me. I had bowling on Friday night and badminton on Saturday afternoon. A friend of mine would argue though that bowling isn’t really a sport.

Like I said, last Friday night, I played a couple of games’ worth of bowling with friends at the usual hangout. Not as much strikes as previous games I’ve played but I managed to score above 100 at least. Yeah, I’m still an amateur so getting a score just over 100 still means a big deal to me.

At the bowling lane, we did an advance celebration of Raquel’s birthday. It was supposed to be for both Raquel and Irar but couldn’t make it so Raquel got all the glory and the left over cake. We were all rowdy that night even without the benefit of alcohol. But our rowdiness was surpassed by the group of school girls that played in the lanes beside us.

By the time our two games were up, my right arm and fingers were already a bit stiff. Not really a problem because I usually get to rest the next day. But not this past Saturday.

Fortunately, Arn booked three badminton courts beforehand so we didn’t have to worry about not getting any courts when we got there. Also, Cel shelled out the cash needed to pay off the three courts for two hours in advance (at $96 total). I should also thank Cel that she had an extra badminton racket to lend me when I got there. I really should drop by Rebel Sport one of these days and buy my own equipment.

When I got there, I played a doubles game with Arn, Cel, and her brother N. Even though my body was a bit stiff from the bowling the night before and they weren’t keeping score, I gave that game everything I’ve got. I’ve been jumping around like a maniac chasing after the shuttlecock (the ball used in badminton).

Thirty minutes in, I stopped being over-zealous in hitting the shuttlecock. I just let Arn hit it if I thought it was going to land anywhere near him. I also thought about taking a rest from all the jumping and running about when S in the other court was looking for somebody to play against. And he wanted to keep score.

Excellent! That’s exactly how I wanted it to be. So I scooted over to his court and did my usual trash-talk which I intended only in jest of course. Like so: “You’re going down, boy!” or “I’ll let you score first then I’ll start scoring.” In retrospect, S is not really Pinoy but a fair dinkum Australian so I’m not sure if he took any of that seriously but I believe (and hope) that he understood that I was just kidding.

Anyway, all that psychological warfare with the trash-talk didn’t work at all as I ended up losing at 15-0! I was, what we would call in Tagalog, balagoong (Pronounced: Bah-Lah-Go-Ong) — a pathetic loser. I challenged him again. I said, “best two out of three!”

Oh, he was game, indeed. According to his Pinay wife, Al, and his brother, R, he scored like 45 points in a row now after S beat R at 15-0 and Al at 15-0. S probably figured he was on a roll. Unfortunately for me, he was right. I lost again at a slightly more respectable 15-2.

Even though I was all tired and getting weak, I couldn’t accept defeat so I challenged him one more time and he obliged. Although I lost yet again, I think I scored higher than 2 that time around. Can’t really remember the score now but I’m sure I still lost by a wide margin.

He wanted to take a rest afterwards and I figured, I should, too, since I was already tired even I started playing against S. But then, Al wanted to play and keep score but nobody was seemingly interested in playing against her. Well, I just couldn’t ignore the opportunity to play a scored match so instead of resting, I went back into court hoping to get even with S a bit by beating his wife. Unfortunately, I lost to her in the two games we played.

Ah, well. I really need to get some practice and build up my endurance before I could probably win against that couple. It was great! I like a good competition. Makes me want to better myself.

When the time ran out on the court rental at about 4 pm, most of my friends went their separate ways. Chinita, SS, Arn and I decided to take a look around MSAC first before heading for home. To my delight, they also have squash courts, basketball courts and swimming pools there (it was an Aquatic centre after all) with a water slide even. I’m all excited thinking about playing a bit of squash sometime or basketball or whatever.

As I’ve said, I never really was into sports and I never got into it when I was growing up even though my Dad was really pushing me and my brother into it. I just now realised that sports is more fun if you’re playing with and against friends. Anyway, I’m sure my Dad would be proud that his son is finally getting into sports.